


Sputnik

by CriticsCubby



Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 19:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5882524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CriticsCubby/pseuds/CriticsCubby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post 10x3 (MASMTWM). Spoilers. Naming a dog is difficult.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sputnik

Mulder came back while she was bathing him in the sink, memories flooding in as she washed the suds out. Hopefully Mr. NoName wouldn’t meet the same fate as her last dog; poor Queequeg, flea-ridden but adorable. 

“Okay Scully, I picked up a new dog collar, dog leash, bag of dog food, dog bed, dog toys, dog bone...Why is it that we feel the need to specify species when clearly neither you or I would be caught dead wearing one of these?” He held up a tiny, bright red, spiked dog collar. 

Turning off the water and grabbing a towel, Scully glanced over at Mulder, concealed a smirk, and commenced drying the shivering pup in the sink.

“I don’t know, Mulder, I’ve always thought you looked good in red.” She could hear his quick intake of breath and knew she’d caught him off guard. She’d missed doing that. 

“First, sex with a lizard-man and now you want me in a dog collar?” He joked, throwing the collar dramatically back into the bag.

He could feel her eye-roll even if he couldn’t see it. He’d missed that. 

“Alright pup, you’re clean enough to join regular society again.” She proclaimed, setting the wet-wirehaired dog on the floor. He shook once, and then commenced to running laps around her apartment. Mulder pulled out the dog bed, covered in the Star Wars logo, Scully noticed, and plopped it onto the floor. The now slightly-less-damp dog made a bee-line for the bed, flopped into it sideways and began rubbing his body against the sides, seemingly trying to straighten his puffed up coat.

“I guess that’s how one fights frizz on all fours.” Mulder quipped. 

“Well, at least he’s clean. That Animal Control Center was disgusting. I guess when your main caretaker is out killing people, the cleanliness of kennels gets put on the backburner.” She dried her hands and stepped over to investigate the rest of Mulder’s purchases. 

“So, a Star Wars bed and a spiked red collar...let me guess, you got him a bone shaped like the loch ness monster?” She peered into the bag, extracting not a nessie shaped bone, but your regular run-of-the-mill peanut butter flavored kind. 

“Come on, Scully, he almost witnessed your demise, I didn’t want him contemplating his own while chewing a replica of a lake monster.” He saw a brief flash of sadness pass over her, quickly forgotten when she pulled out the toy.

“A rocketship, Mulder? You didn’t want him thinking about lake monsters, but flying off into the unknown is okay?” She squeezed it, and it squeaked obnoxiously in her hands, grabbing the alert attention of the semi-prick-eared dog. He sat up in the bed, totally focused on the rocket in Scully’s hands.

“See! He likes it. And, I was thinking, you should call him ‘Sputnik’. Who knows what sort of journey he’s been on, could have been all the way around the world, but now he’s here.”

“Mulder, we’re not naming our dog after a Russian satellite, no matter how fascinated he is with space-themed toys.” She tossed the rocket and watched the dog fly into action, sliding on the floor, toppling over the squeaky prize.

“‘Our’ dog?” Mulder asked, trying to keep his tone level. They’d come a long way in the last little bit, but still he wasn’t sure where exactly they were. She still had her place, and he still had theirs. 

“I mean, I had sort of assumed that you might be interested in a little doggy-co-parenting. He’d still live here, of course, but that doesn’t mean we won’t visit often.” She stumbled, adding quickly, “and I’m sure he’ll love to go running once we make sure he’s had all his shots and things.” 

He was looking at her with a mixture of hope and contentment when she dared glance away from the dog, who had carried his rocketship prize back to the dog bed at their feet and was happily attempting to dismantle the plush nose. She met his gaze and smiled, offering a little bit of that hope back. 

“Well, then, if not Sputnik, what did you have in mind for our formerly homeless friend?” He bent down, grabbed the body of the rocket lightly, and began a game of tug-of-war.

“Obviously not Queequeg.” She said, kneeling next to them on the floor. The dog disengaged from tug-of-war with Mulder to lick Scully’s hands excitedly. She smiled, and he flopped onto his back for belly rubs.

“The lizard-man had a dog named Daggoo. Sounds weird, but the guy really went through a lot in his short time as a human so I can’t really blame him for failing at naming pets.” Mulder grabbed the collar out of the bag and started wrestling the dog into it, the dog not wanting to move from the belly-up position. 

“Mulder, the name ‘Daggoo’ is from ‘Moby Dick’! I don’t think it suits, him, though, since Daggoo was tall. How about Pip? He’s lost at sea at one point, but then he’s rescued.” She had that look of concentration on her face, trying to remember the details of these lesser characters in her father’s favorite book. Mulder loved watching her think. 

“Well, he might not have been lost at sea, but he was rescued. What do you think, Pip?” Mulder asked, having finally gotten the collar to buckle. The newly christened Pip perked up, panting happily in the dog bed, looking between them. 

“I think he likes it.” Scully said, offering her hand for more licks, and Pip immediately rolling over for more belly rubs.

“I think he likes you.” Mulder said, softly. 

Scully looked up, smiling. She hoped this was the start of them getting back to where they used to be. 

“Can I call next on the belly rub?” 

She rolled her eyes, and stood up, leaving Pip wide-eyed and searching for her warm, soothing touch. They were definitely on their way.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, this is essentially the 400th version of this tale (tail :P), but this is *my* version ^^ Pip really was on the same crew as Daggoo, and is made a "ship-keeper"...need I say more?


End file.
